The ousted prime minister welcomed me to his spacious compound where I
met his son and daughter, both home from studying overseas, and his muddy,
wriggling puppies that quickly Pollacked my best chinos.

The media image of Mari Alkatiri is of an unsmiling, severe and aloof
man; this is far better than what most ordinary people say about him. In
person, he is urbane, articulate and informal. He disarmingly opened our
conversation by saying that I must have heard rumors about corruption,
squirrelly oil deals, arming hit squads and the like. But it was not the
time for a confession.

Alkatiri views his June 2006 resignation as a public service of sorts,
saying his restraint in face of an "unconstitutional coup aimed at
destroying Fretelin [the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor]
and me" averted further violence. He spoke of an Australian-
orchestrated media conspiracy to discredit him and spread false allegations.
He suggests that his forceful negotiating position over the division of
energy revenues with Australia may have soured Canberra toward him.

Alkatiri blames the Catholic Church for fomenting protests against him,
in part because he is a Muslim of Yemeni origins. He says the Church was
angry about his 2005 decision to end the obligatory teaching of religion at
state schools.

According to Alkatiri, his opponents are not strong enough to defeat
Fretelin at the polls, so they are manipulating the Church, veterans' groups
and foreign pressure while stirring up violence on the streets. He denies
all the allegations against him, but blames himself for "not smiling
more" -- and not more effectively countering the
"disinformation."

By leaving office he feels he exposed the conspiracy and gained public
sympathy. He says, "If I decided to act I would have prevailed, but it
would have meant more bloodshed and everyone would have blamed me. I
resigned so everyone can see for themselves who's who and what's what."

Regarding his public feud with the charismatic and popular President
Xanana Gusmao, Alkatiri says that he has refrained from responding to the
president's numerous attacks against Fretelin and himself, because he did
not want to spark further violence.

He wonders, however, if Gusmao still thinks he made the right choice in
forcing him from power by threatening to resign. In his view, the crisis has
ended in defeat for the president, whose reputation has suffered. While
admitting he may not have handled the military crisis well, Alkatiri points
out that in any country mutineers are dealt with harshly. He says, "Xanana
always favors tolerance and negotiations, but such an approach has
limits."

In reflecting on the events of 2006, he spoke of "the collective
failures of the leadership," and said that the "artificial crisis
of east and west" has set the country back several years in developing
democratic institutions, human rights and the rule of law.

Early in February, Alkatiri was cleared of allegations that he was
involved in a transfer of weapons to a hit squad. Prior to that, when I
asked him about his legal problems, he said, "I am fully aware I will
win." Echoing the consensus view, he observed without irony, "The
justice system is the weakest part of our government institutions."

In his view, the greatest threat to human rights is poverty, and
addressing that should be the government's priority. The influx of
energy-export revenues, and the creation of a Timor Sea Fund to earmark
money for future generations, makes him optimistic about prospects in East
Timor.

Regarding Japan, Alkatiri expressed thanks for their generous assistance
but said, "They are not easy to work with. They have their own ideas
and program and it is difficult to negotiate with them. They have been very
supportive of infrastructure, power and health projects, but these are
always expensive."

Looking forward, he said, "Xanana and I have to work together to
create the conditions for peaceful elections. Both need to recognize our
mistakes. I have kept a low profile and have not been critical of Xanana
because I want to calm things down and have asked Fretelin for
tolerance."

Confessing that it would be hard to resist pressures from within his
party, Fretelin, to run for re-election, he signaled his readiness,
"For my own dignity and vindication."